Thursday, June 7, 2012

Our 5 year old twins graduated from preschool this year. In the past, we always gave the teachers small gift cards and hand drawn cards from the children for end-of-the-year thank you gifts. This year, the twins wanted to give their teachers flowers. I talked them into going with potted plants because they would last far longer than cut flowers. They took much care in selecting the perfect plants with the prettiest flowers.

I wanted to do something special with the plants. I considered having the children paint the pots or make a sign to put in the soil. Then I came up with this free printable gift tag that would work for both a plant or floral bouquet as an end-of-the-year teacher's gift.

In addition to the free printable below, you will also need . . .

Crayons or Markers

Thin permanent marker (in a dark color)

Glue stick

Invisible tape

Child safety scissors

1" (or wider) ribbon

Narrow ribbon (can also use twine or yarn)

Below you will find two versions of this printable gift tag. The one on the left reads "Thank You For Helping Us Bloom!!" and the one on the right says "Thank You For Helping Me Bloom!!" You should print the one that works for you based on whether you are giving a gift from a single child, siblings, or the whole class.

TO PRINT: Click on the desired image to enlarge. Then right-click on the image and select "print." Use your browser's back arrow to return to this page.

Step 1. Print out the desired page. Then ask your child to color in the flower, making sure he or she only uses light colors in the flower's center where the text appears.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Step 2. Carefully cut out the flowers, making sure to leave the two flowers connected at the dotted line. An adult may have to do the cutting if you are working with young children who have yet to perfect their cutting skills.

Step 3. Fold the flowers along the dotted line so that the blank sides of the flowers are together.

Step 4. Use a glue stick to glue the two halves together, except where the two flowers are connected. To help with this, you can insert a crayon, pencil, or marker between the two halves at the very top as shown below. Once the glue dries, remove the crayon and you will have an opening in which you can insert a string or ribbon to hang the gift tag with.

Step 5. Using the ribbon you have chosen that is 1" or wider, tie a bow around or near the top of the flowerpot. Use small loops of invisible tape between the ribbon and the flowerpot to help hold the ribbon in place.

Step 6. Using a thin permanent marker, fill in the "to" and the "from" on the tag.

Step 7. Thread a small length of narrow ribbon, twine, or yarn through the opening at the top of the tag you created and tie it in a knot to make it hang from the wider ribbon already on the flowerpot.

Here is how our two potted plants turned out. The teachers both loved the plants, as well as the tags made by the children. It was definitely more personal than a gift card and the children were so proud to carry the plants into school to present them to their teachers.

Ideas for how to make this project your own . . .

Paint the flowerpot

Use stickers on the flower pot and/or the tag

Use some glue and glitter to make the tag sparkle

Use wired ribbon to create a fancier bow for the flowerpot

Decoupage photos from the school year onto the flowerpot

If you end up doing this project, I would love to hear how it turns out.